New Member in Nashville Needs shopping advice

I just recently joined after getting a BMW experience at the Performance center as a Christmas present. Much to my wife's chagrin, I'm hooked on getting a BMW.

I'll probably be bugging the board for shopping advice right now. I'm choosing between a 328i and a X1. I'm weighing the whole new versus used arguement. I'm also trying to find out what things I should look out for in a particular model/year.

The used BMW I'm looking at is a 2010 328xi. Low miles, M-Sport package, Premium package. 12,000 miles. 1 owner. Does have a report of a rear end collision that has been repaired (no mention of severity). It still has a year left in its original warranty.

Other than inspecting the hell out of the damaged area to eval the repair and having someone look at it, are there any other things I should look for in that model year?

The E90 328i/328xi is a pretty reliable car (as BMWs go.) 12K miles is really low (I drive 18K/year). Would probably be wise to have a shop you trust check the alignment (4 wheel) since it's been in a wreck.

1) 2010 was the year of the "Bad Base Radio": BMW attempted to save a few bucks by putting the lowest of the three worldwide options (Base, Professional, HK/Logic7) into the cars that year - previously the base USA/CA stereo had been the middle option. If you enjoy listening to music and that car has the base, you may not be happy. Base can be discerned by the absence of tweeters in the A-pillar region near the mirrors.

2) AWD vs. RWD. I know you do get snow/ice/etc in TN, but you should evaluate your needs - the AWD system is not completely free after all. xDrive helps you go, but not turn or brake. Snow tires are required on RWD BMWs, and quite arguably on AWD cars if you do a lot of winter condition driving.

3) AWD BMWs don't have the "sport" suspension (even MSport optionioned), instead they have a slightly higher-riding version of the standard suspension.

Further discussion of these (and other) items should be directed to the E9x forum (below), the Audio/Electronics and Wheels/Tires forums. Also, the two most active non-BMWCCA forums are e90post.com and bimmerfest.com. These forums have quite different personalities from this, even though many people post all three places. Please use the search functions, or Google (you don't have to join to view threads there.)

The e90 and the e84 both have about the same technology in them so you really aren't missing out on much there. The best is to drive both of them and see which one you like more is the best comparison I can tell you. floydarogers really nailed most the things to consider when buying these cars. As for the accident personally I would avoid the car just for resale sake. The car will probably drive fine but when it comes time to sell or trade it really will hurt the value. And with the X1 one I don't mind the car but I'm not in love with it either. If you want one of those look into a F25 X3 and you will see the difference. Good luck with the decision and welcome to the club!